Yew bow builders (need all the tips I can get)

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Well my 3 yew staves I bought will be here in a week or so and I am gonna do a static tip recurve Possibly with copperhead skins or some of that sweet choke cherry backing like Pat B uses.

Anyway I want a finished bow drawing around 55# give or take at 28". What length is best.

All the tips I can get on bending the tips.

How much reflex should I put in it.

Dry Heat or steam?

You get the point. Also would like see some pics of any and all yew bows.

Stiks

[Osagetree]

Kris,,,, have you seen this guy's work? What beauties he makes from yew!
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002734

[Pat B]

Keenan makes some of the most incredible bows I've ever seen. Unfortunately because of major back surgery he has been out of the loop for quite a while now.
 Maybe Gordon will chime in. He also builds incredible bows and is familiar with yew because he lives in Oregon and has access to it.
Glen St Charles' book, "Billets to Bows" is a good book with lots of info about yew bows. See if you can find a copy of it or I can send you my copy to read.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I'll look for Glens Book.

Keenan does make some nice looking bows.

[Pat B]

Hopefully he and his wife will be at the Tenn. Classic next spring. They were supposed to be this past spring but his back surgery came at about the same time. I've never met Keenan but I consider him a good friend and look forward to meeting he and Lulyn.
 Kris, you have to put the Classic on your calender.

[fujimo]

i have a yew stave with lots of sapwood on it( about 1/2 ") how thick shoud it be left on the back, does it need to follow a ring- looks real tough for that- hard to see the rings.
wayne
ps. im gonna be cutting some yew in the next month or so. when i have the staves, would anybody like too swap for some osage- or "what have you"- (i really like snakey osage staves).

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Pat I will either be at the TN classic or the shoot near hickory. Either way we are gonna hook up bud, for sure.

Stiks

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Wayne,

The guy I bought my staves from told me to scrape the bark off to the sap wood and not to chase a ring. As far as the thickness the sap wood should be, I don't have a clue yet. But I'm sure we will both find out soon enough.

P.S. I sent you a pm on the yew. I also am going to be cutting some real nice hickory and some black locust.

Stiks

[Diamondback59]

stiks leave the sap alon€€e make ur  bow  and if ya  have to thin  it last  i never hardly  do much to the sap on mine but 1/2 is a lot most of mine have 3/8  1/4 sap and if ur stave is well seasond  dry heat works just fine steam also but boiling tips to bend is also preferd   brock

[blacktailchaser]

since i was under keenans teaching...he told me some pritty sweet stuff about yew...one thing is that only GOD could chase a ring on the sap and a 1/2 should be no trouble...i wait to see what happens.john

[Mark Smeltzer]

Here are a few I've done. The first one is a yew lam with boo back. I suggest steam for bending, and although you can get away without following a ring.....if you have the patience do it (selfbows), It looks better and it is insurance. It can be very hard to do though, bright sun light helps a lot. I would also say 1/4: sapwood max.  If you have made bows from other woods, forget about limb thickness, Yew limbs are thicker than Osage, Hickory and most other woods.  Although I love the way Yew shoots only the Lam bows were among my fastest.
My sefbows normally get around 3-4" of reflex in the outer 1/3 of the limb, I end up most of the time with a fairly mild R/D.
Just my 2 cents.

Mark

[GREG IN MALAD]

Mark,
Those are some beauties, I need to stop by one day and look at the bamboo/yew. I have a hankering to build one.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Been chewing on all this advice guys. The feller I bought my yew from shipped it out yesterday when he got back from his elk hunt.

One Stave is gonna be a static curve for sure.

Stiks

[Mark Smeltzer]

Thanks Greg. I have sold or given away all of those bows. I plan on doing another one though. You are welcome to come down any time though.

Stik-n-string, check out the building an Osage recurve thread. I just finished an Osage and am doing a Yew recurve now.

Mark

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Been watching that thread Mark.

Some nice looking sticks for sure.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Yew showed up today and I got a few questions.

#1 what is the best way to remove bark down to sapwood?

#2 can I take the sap down a bit if needed with out worrying about violating a ring?

#3 do I need to follow the grain when I lay out the bow like osage?

#4 about how wide should the tips be for the last six inches for a static curve?

Stiks

[Pat B]

The bark isn't very thick on yew. I used a draw knife to remove it but remember it isn't osage so go gingerly. You might try a rasp and scraper if the draw knife doesn't suit you. Again, go gingerly.  
 On the few yew bows I've made the sapwood was from 3/8" thick to about 1/2" but I think 1/4" or so would be best.
 With thin ringed yew a bit of sapwood grain violation on the back is no problem. Ideally you always want a clean, continuous back ring but yew is the exception to the rule and some violations are acceptable.
 You always need to follow the longitudinal grain when setting up a bow on a stave!
 I have not made a yew recurve...yet!...but I always leave the tips wide(1/2" to 3/4") until I'm sure everything lines up just right. With static tips you can still tiller the bow with wide, thick tips without effecting tiller. I do the same with the handle area; wide and thick until later.
 After the bow is tillered and everything is lined up you can reduce the width of the tips considerably if they are thick enough. Thick, narrow wood is physically lighter than thin, wide wood and is much stronger.
  If you don't have TBBII, get it! It has a chapter on bending wood and the next chapter is on recurves. Both very informative and enlightening.

[Pat B]

...and be careful breathing the saw dust from yew(and all woods). It is quite toxic and some folks are very allergic to it.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I got all the bowyers bibles Pat. Thanks for the heads up on the dust.

I do read quite a bit but still like to get alot of info here.

I'm gonna start a new post on the bow and do a build along I think, Or at least a tag along LOL.

Stiks

[Mark Smeltzer]

Everything Pat said, but I do follow a ring even on Yew. I know you can get away with ring violations with Yew but if you don't plan on backing it, it just looks better (my opinion).
I have had better luck with steam than dry heat with Yew and if there is a swirl or a knot in the area you want to bend you may have a problem there.
Mark